Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor, NIJ Standard-0101.04

• NCJ Number: 183651
• Date Published: September 2000
• Length: 65 pages
• Grant Number(s): 94-IJ-R-004
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)

Annotation

This standard establishes minimum performance requirements and test methods for the ballistic resistance of personal body armor intended to protect the torso against gunfire.

Abstract

The scope of the standard is limited to ballistic resistance; this standard does not address threats from knives and sharply pointed instruments, which are different types of threat. The ballistic threat posed by a bullet depends on, among other things, its composition, shape, caliber, mass, angle of incidence, and impact velocity. Because of the wide variety of bullets and cartridges available in a given caliber and the existence of hand-loaded ammunition, armors that will defeat a standard test round may not defeat other loadings in the same caliber. In general, an armor that defeats a given lead bullet may not resist complete penetration by other bullets of the same caliber but of different construction or configuration. The test ammunition specified in this standard represents general, common threats to law enforcement officers. Figures, notes, tables, appendixes